And now I get to show my grusome side with a list of murder methods...

Stabbing? Shooting with a gun? Shooting with a bow & arrow? Strangling? Attacking with a power tool? Suffocation? Drowning? Beating to death with hands? Beating to death with an object? Defenestration? Crushing beneath an object? Starvation? Dehydration? Overdose? Poisoning? Death by animal?

And now I get to show my grusome side with a list of murder methods...

Stabbing? Shooting with a gun? Shooting with a bow & arrow? Strangling? Attacking with a power tool? Suffocation? Drowning? Beating to death with hands? Beating to death with an object? Defenestration? Crushing beneath an object? And I get to show my gruesome side with this answer.Starvation? Dehydration? Overdose? Poisoning? Death by animal?

Is the exact object relevant? Not particularly. It was a stone cannonball, which should answer the rest of these questions.Is it one commonly found inside homes? Perhaps a bookshelf? Large flat screen TV? Cabinet of some sort?

Did the killer push it over? But it got caught on a nail? And didn't topple directly on to the vic? No to all

Did the victim brush against the nail? This is close, but No. No to the others as wellStep on it? Run into it?

Was the cannon ball placed over a door so that when the victim opened the door it would fall over her? And the victim got her clothing 'stuck'/pulled by the nail so that she wasn't exactly below the cannon ball when it fell?

Was the cannon ball placed over a door so that when the victim opened the door it would fall over her? And the victim got her clothing 'stuck'/pulled by the nail so that she wasn't exactly below the cannon ball when it fell? I don't need to say anything more...spot-on accurate.

**********SPOILER**********

See above.

This scenario comes from an Agatha Christie novel (Hercule Poirot's Christmas). The reason the victim had to be female was because it was her skirt that caught on the nail, pulling her back into the hallway so the cannonball missed her.

Impressive solve, Danielvs -- don't know how you figured it out so quickly. And points also to Vesica for a lot of the details.

Hi Matt, At first I had no clue about what this puzzle was about. But the word "cannonball" rang a bell, and the first thing that came into my mind was this scenario that turned out to be correct. The last time I read an Agatha Christie book was more than 10 years ago, but by then I had read almost all of her collection. And this particular book is surely one of my favourites. The thing with the balloons on the same book can also make for a good puzzle. Another good situation for a puzzle is the murder on "They do It With Mirrors". I didn't mean to spoil your puzzle, I even thought it was a long shot when I posted my last questions. Nice puzzle! Daniel.